Robert E. Witt (born September 16, 1940) is an American businessman, and

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the Faculty (academic staff), faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint ...

. He is the current Chancellor of the University of Alabama System, concurrently serving as the Chairman of the Council of Presidents of Alabama’s public colleges and universities.

Early life and education

Witt received his bachelor's degree in economics in 1962 from

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

, his M.B.A. from the

Tuck School of Business The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Founded in ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and his Ph.D. from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. He is also a member of the

Phi Delta Theta Fraternity Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. T ...

Academic career

University of Texas at Austin

Witt joined the business school faculty at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1968, and rose through the ranks as chair and associate dean. He was named the Zale Corporation Centennial Professor in Business in 1983. Two years later he was named to the Mortimer Centennial Professorship in Business and that year became acting dean of business. In 1985, he was named

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, a position he would hold for nine years.

University of Texas at Arlington

In 1995, Witt joined the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

as interim president. He was named permanent president in 1996. His accomplishments at UT-Arlington included: * Partnering with the Chamber of Commerce to establish the Arlington Technology Incubator * Creating a nanotechnology research and teaching facility * Establishing the University's first alliance of African-American ministers and community leaders.

University of Alabama

In 2003, Witt left the University of Texas at Arlington to become President of the University of Alabama. On May 5, 2012, Witt was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Alabama System.

Honors

Witt was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from

, in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...

on May 29, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witt, Robert 1940 births Living people American Episcopalians Bates College alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni Presidents of the University of Alabama Presidents of the University of Texas at Arlington Tuck School of Business alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty Chancellors of the University of Alabama System Businesspeople from Bridgeport, Connecticut People from Bridgeport, Connecticut Business school deans American university and college faculty deans